His visit to the National Cemetery turned into a disaster for Donald Trump. But instead of admitting a mistake, he prefers to go on the attack.
It was supposed to be classic election campaign PR: On the third anniversary of an attack on US troops, Donald Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery, together with relatives of the fallen soldiers. But instead of support and votes, there is now a scandal. Trump is angry. And blames his rival Kamala Harris.
“There was no conflict at Arlington Cemetery,” he raged on his Truth Social network, peppered as usual with entire sentences in capital letters, about his opponent for the office of US president. “She made that up to distract from the fact that she and Sleepy Joe have blood on their hands because of their botched withdrawal from Afghanistan,” he fumed. “There were no fights or problems, only in the minds of those who want to destroy the country.”
Donald Trump’s team goes on the attack
The tirade refers to an incident that has now even been confirmed by the US military. Trump’s PR visit, which was documented with numerous pictures, suffers from a very fundamental problem: it should never have taken place. US law and the Pentagon’s practice explicitly prohibit visits to national cemeteries from being used for political purposes. Photography and filming are also only permitted for employees of the memorial sites. When employees noticed this, they tried to point it out to Trump’s team. And that led to the conflict that Harris, in Trump’s opinion, had only made up.
An employee tried to point out the rules to Trump’s team “and was then unexpectedly pushed aside,” the US Army has since confirmed in writing to NBC. “The employee reacted professionally in accordance with the decorum expected at the cemetery and avoided further conflict.” The employee decided not to take legal action.
Trump’s staff saw the situation differently. “That is not even remotely true and this person is a liar,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheun told NBC. “As an eyewitness, I can say that the employee first made physical contact, which was neither appropriate nor necessary,” the spokesman said. The person had “pretty clearly had a mental breakdown,” another spokesman told NPR. A remarkable statement considering that, according to Trump, there had been no incident at all.
Not the first blunder in Arlington
Trump is not the first political candidate to get into trouble for visiting Arlington. Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain also used unauthorized video footage from the cemetery in a campaign ad in 2000. According to media reports, however, he reacted very differently. The Vietnam veteran quickly admitted that it was a “serious mistake.” He had the footage removed from the clip. Trump continues to use the images of his visit for campaign advertising. Despite their bad taste.
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Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
